Eli's beginning
by Nival Vixen
Summary: COMPLETE! In the beginning, God created Man. In the end, Man recreated himself... How he became Eli, a prequel to the movie. Pre-apocalyptic. Accompanies movie. One spoiler. Rated PG. MOVIE: Book of Eli


**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Book of Eli.

**Summary:** a prequel to the movie. Pre-apocalyptic. The making of Eli Stone.

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(a/n: just a one-shot I've had playing in my mind for some time.

Not beta'd, so all mistakes are mine!)

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Alison Stone looked at her fiancee, smiling broadly as she walked down the aisle to where he was waiting with the priest, his smile matching her own.

They were going to have such a beautiful life together, and she couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life with John. The papers were full of horror stories, wars that seemed to be getting closer and more intense with every passing day. But Alison didn't care about any of that at the moment; she was getting married, the war would pass as they always did, and she would grow old and grey with her very-soon-to-be-husband.

* * *

"I'm pregnant," she said, waiting for John's reaction.

Looking into his eyes, Alison saw that the deep sorrow was still there. It was to be expected, of course, but there was also a glimmer of pure joy - something that had been lacking from both of their lives of late.

"It's going to be a boy, John. I just know it. He's going to be as strong as his father, and as handsome," she added with a playful smile.

John laughed that beautiful large laugh of his, wrapped his arms around her and held her as she laughed with him.

* * *

"First day of school, Eli. Time to go!" Alison called, smiling broadly at her husband as their son walked down the stairs in his brand new school uniform.

Alison had a stack of CD's in her hand - an attempt to block out the war-ridden news programs and the talk-back filled with sobbing mothers and wives. It was too sad, and she didn't want to cry more than she had to on their son's first day.

"You forgot your name tag, Eli. John, would you get it for him?" Alison called.

Hefting his son's school bag up onto his shoulder, John went into the house to retrieve the small sticker with Eli's name printed on it.

Locking up the house, John turned to follow his wife and son to the car. There was a small shadow, as if the sun had blinked above them, and John looked up with a frown, the bag and sticker dropping to the ground.

Suddenly, the sun exploded, and he screamed as his eyes burned. He heard Alison and Eli screaming too, and blundered in the direction of the car. The sun seemed to get brighter, even behind his sight-less eyes, and he heard the explosion before he felt the wave of intense heat.

_Fuel tank_, some part of his mind thought.

John held his hands out, searching for his wife and son - he couldn't hear them screaming anymore. Hundreds of questions ran through his mind; were they alive? Were they dead? Could they see? Why couldn't he see? Where was his wife, his son?

He was so intent on trying to find his family that he didn't register the fact that he was on fire for several minutes.

A scream of pain ripped from his throat involuntarily and he dropped to the ground and he rolled over and over until he was sure that the flames were gone. By that time, half of his body was scarred. It took some time, but after feeling along the ground and finding nothing but ash, John was certain that his wife and son were dead.

In that moment, John died too, and he was replaced by someone else. At first, that someone was just a wandering nomad, attempting to find his way through the world without walking into a wall. He had no idea what he was doing, where he was going, and within weeks, forgot his own name. Two other names were remembered though. Two names he'd never forget, and as such, became this new person's name. His son's first name, and his wife's maiden name.

* * *

It was almost a year after The Flash that he first heard the voice in his mind. It sounded like his wife and his son's voices, both tones rolled into one, all at once loving, gentle, knowing, and innocent.

He shook his head. He was finally going crazy, that's all it was. He ignored the voice and kept along his way, trying to see with his ears, and just survive by keeping out of the way of others. His knife was in his son's backpack, holstered carefully and probably still flecked with dry blood. He couldn't waste water just to clean it. Sometimes people didn't seem to respect that he was just trying to stay out of their business.

The voice was insistent, however, seemingly never-ending, and he couldn't sleep, even when he actually wanted to risk the nightmares. Finally, he gave in, and that lead him to discover The Book.

_West, go West_. His wife's voice, her soothing, always-loving voice.

_West, go West_. Eli's innocent and curious voice.

_West, go West_. Their combined voices, loving, echoing and insistent.

Eli Stone turned West and began to walk.

* * *

The end

...


End file.
